Over at Craig's Blog

Perhapablog

Friday, June 24, 2011

happy birthday~!

anyone who knows me--knows me in person, i mean--knows that i'm a glass-half-full kinda guy. an eternal optimist, the always-looking-for-the-silver-lining, guy, the constant cheerleader. i strive to always stay positive, always be supportive. sometimes irritatingly so. okay, most times. ask craig. or mike.

which brings us to what that little preamble was about.

today is mike's birthday. he would be 48 today. he would complain about how old he's (we're) getting and how time is just flashing by and i'd tell him to shut up. we'd agree that we need to re-double our efforts to get more of our many projects done and i'd remind him that he needs to get out of his studio more, get out of the house more, go somewhere and meet people and maybe find someone nice to spend some time with. then we'd laugh, 'cause, c'mon--who're we kidding?

some people tend to get very sad and mournful on the date of a person's passing and i guess that's natural. we remember them fondly and wish they were still here. think about that hole in our lives where that person used to be. and that's okay.

but it was the year anniversary of my mom's death that my dad pointed out that that's not what we should be doing. to really honor that person and remember them positively, we should focus more on their birthday. if we want to celebrate them and their life, why not do it on the day that they would celebrate?!

though painfully short, mike's life was good. he was blessed with a fantastic family, wonderful friends, an incredible talent, legions of fans, and a laugh that you could hear across the room. he laughed a lot.

and, despite the relatively brief time, he gave us so much awesome!

happy birthday, brother~!miss ya--definitely...but more than that, i love ya!

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and, HEY~! if you haven't been following the awesome story--"SAINTS and SINNERS"--by rich woodall and jason copland over on the Tales from the Perhaps page, you are MISSING OUT! click the "TALES" link above and see the adventure unfold!!

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i'll be here this sunday...

swing by and see me--if you're in the neighborhood!smell ya later~! todd

Todd - Your dad had a great point. I've always thought birthdays should be celebrated more and dreaded less.

After all, what's that saying? .. "Count your life by smiles, not tears,Count your age by friends, not years." and if you then look at it not as how many years ones lived but how much life ones put into those years .. then by both standards, Mike had a long life in many aspects - still gone from this world too soon but he did have many, many friends and filled the years he was here surrounded by them and by laughter. There are many more people who live much longer but never have what Mike had...

so .. Happy Birthday Mike!! I never had the pleasure of meeting you in person but I do have the pleasure of seeing a part of you that has been left with my friend Todd.